Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

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cw06
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Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

Post by cw06 »



It looks like the Harris Teeter on Potomac Ave in DC might be closing. Harris Teeter in the DMV area has really seemed to go stale. They haven't opened a new store in quite a while, and the updates to older stores are minimal.

My hunch is that labor costs are eating them up. Their whole business model was based on low wages, and they can't stay profitable if they raise them to Whole Foods and Amazon levels.
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Re: Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

Post by BatteryMill »

cw06 wrote: December 6th, 2021, 9:00 am

It looks like the Harris Teeter on Potomac Ave in DC might be closing. Harris Teeter in the DMV area has really seemed to go stale. They haven't opened a new store in quite a while, and the updates to older stores are minimal.

My hunch is that labor costs are eating them up. Their whole business model was based on low wages, and they can't stay profitable if they raise them to Whole Foods and Amazon levels.
A store opened in the western portions of Alexandria this past summer. Other than that it's shocking to see, wonder what dragged that store down exactly.
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Re: Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

Post by jdb820 »

cw06 wrote: December 6th, 2021, 9:00 am My hunch is that labor costs are eating them up. Their whole business model was based on low wages, and they can't stay profitable if they raise them to Whole Foods and Amazon levels.
If that was true, they would be rushing to exit the District as whole given that Giant, Safeway, and as of next year Wegmans have to play by the same rules. I'd be more concerned in lower wage areas of this happening versus a HCOL area where those costs can be planned around.

I'm going to go by the fact that Safeway redid their store down the street not that long ago and it has made HT look bad in contrast. Their other DC locations either are in what was a food desert (The Yards), are in one where the nearest competition is just a little too far (NoMA, Kalorama to some degree), or where the competition targets a different clientele (Kalorama).
BatteryMill wrote: December 6th, 2021, 9:21 am A store opened in the western portions of Alexandria this past summer. Other than that it's shocking to see, wonder what dragged that store down exactly.
I think it's Giant and Safeway finally starting to read the room with the changing demographics of the region coupled with HT having grown stagnant under Kroger and the growing presence of Wegmans in the market.
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Re: Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

Post by mjhale »

My impression of Harris Teeter is that they have high prices and nothing really different than the average DC area grocery store. It seems that if there isn't much competition nearby Harris Teeter does okay. But the ones I've been in that are near any sort of competition are pretty quiet.
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Re: Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

Post by storewanderer »

Harris Teeter in DC seems to run a dirty store with indifferent service and high prices. The quality of the items being sold is luck of the draw as to how well rotated it is. It may look better or flashier than other stores on first glance, but it has problems operationally. That has been my perception after multiple trips to DC area over a 10+ year time period both before and after Kroger bought the chain (I noticed NO changes). At first I thought I was having bad luck with them but after enough of the same observations at multiple stores... but they have been successful and done a good amount of expansion in the market so they must be impressing quite a few customers in the market.

I think they have some projects ongoing though. I think one of the VA Stores is being demolished/rebuilt?

Their operation in NC/SC is much better; cleaner, more professional employees, far better quality perishables, pricing does not seem as high... doesn't even seem like the same chain. The Nashville operation of Harris Teeter also felt "off."
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Re: Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

Post by BatteryMill »

storewanderer wrote: December 6th, 2021, 7:27 pm Harris Teeter in DC seems to run a dirty store with indifferent service and high prices. The quality of the items being sold is luck of the draw as to how well rotated it is. It may look better or flashier than other stores on first glance, but it has problems operationally. That has been my perception after multiple trips to DC area over a 10+ year time period both before and after Kroger bought the chain (I noticed NO changes). At first I thought I was having bad luck with them but after enough of the same observations at multiple stores... but they have been successful and done a good amount of expansion in the market so they must be impressing quite a few customers in the market.

I think they have some projects ongoing though. I think one of the VA Stores is being demolished/rebuilt?

Their operation in NC/SC is much better; cleaner, more professional employees, far better quality perishables, pricing does not seem as high... doesn't even seem like the same chain. The Nashville operation of Harris Teeter also felt "off."
Yes, the Ballston location in Arlington is being redeveloped to fit under a high-rise. I'm certainly surprised they were able to grow - maybe it must be the stronger locations in the area, but overall the rapid growth and hold on some areas it has had just contradicts the premise that they have been weak.
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Re: Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

Post by buckguy »

The Hill East area (neighborhoods to the East of the traditional Capitol Hill area) has had a lot of development and gentrification over the last 20 years and the store was in a condo building with ground floor retail. The local speculation is that the store lost ground after Safeway replaced their rather small store with a large one and Trader Joe's entered the area. Actually, there's a lot more new competition than that---H-T has opened another store in one of the many new developments near the Navy Yard, about a mile or so away along with a relatively new Whole Foods in the H Street corridor, also about a mile or so away. I've only been in this store a couple times and it was pretty forgettable.

I don't know where storewanderer has been among their DC area stores but I wouldn't characterize them as dirty. I have been to most of the DC stores and several in the suburbs. The execution isn't great in the prepared foods and bakery, but the produce is often better than Giant and Safeway and I know people who go there for the meat. The pricing is really all over the place though not as bad as Safeway and they seem less promotional than Giant or Safeway. They don't seem to do large volumes in any of the stores, so I'm not surprised they'd be closing one of the older ones. There isn't much retail in the immediate area of this one---its not near Barracks Row or Eastern Market which form the tradition business district for Capitol Hill. They've opened some other stores a little away from business districts like the ones in Adams Morgan and North Bethesda and have been hit with increased competition in places that they "pioneered" like the NoMa area near Union Station. Also, after years of neglect by chains, DC retail of all sorts is probably reaching the point of saturation.

H-T is still expanding, btw, with a new store going up on the former Walter Reed campus.
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Re: Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

Post by jdb820 »

buckguy wrote: December 7th, 2021, 5:52 am H-T is still expanding, btw, with a new store going up on the former Walter Reed campus.
This will work out well for Upper Northwest, much of which goes to Silver Spring or Takoma Park to shop, and would get traffic from across the District line given how Silver Spring lacks a higher end option and stores in DC have the advantage of beer/wine. HT kicked the tires of building near Silver Spring station but that fell through because the site they wanted (Falkland Chase apartments at East-West & 16th) got targeted for preservation.
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Re: Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

Post by buckguy »

jdb820 wrote: December 8th, 2021, 4:06 pm
buckguy wrote: December 7th, 2021, 5:52 am H-T is still expanding, btw, with a new store going up on the former Walter Reed campus.
This will work out well for Upper Northwest, much of which goes to Silver Spring or Takoma Park to shop, and would get traffic from across the District line given how Silver Spring lacks a higher end option and stores in DC have the advantage of beer/wine. HT kicked the tires of building near Silver Spring station but that fell through because the site they wanted (Falkland Chase apartments at East-West & 16th) got targeted for preservation.
They also looked at a site by the fairly new Target on the DC/MD line. It seemed like an absurdly small site for them. There's an old center that was a near twin to the Cleveland Park Pak & Shop across the street. It once had an A&P and the center would have made more sense as a renovation or teardown.

The Giant at the Blairs has gotten a pretty impressive renovation. Downtown Silver Spring does have a Whole Foods and I think they, as well as Wegman's, were courted for the Walter Reed site. The Silver Spring WF is relatively small and awkwardly laid out; it's probably the most depressing WF I've visited in the area, but it does a large volume.
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Re: Potomac Avenue Harris Teeter (possibly) closing

Post by buckguy »

This store has closed. According to the condo board, Kroger/H-T isn't permitting the building's management company to permit showings of the space. The lease has another 8 years on it.
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